How to have a green lawn during a drought

Mar. 27, 2014

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This Hunter MP Rotator nozzle delivers less water over time to allow time for better penetration into the grass. With these nozzles, there's less runoff, according to Shea Gowin of Gowin Green Landscape Maintenance and Sprinkler Repair in Tulare. Constant spray nozzles can create runoff over sidewalks and into gutters but with this multi-trajectory rotating stream nozzle, it gives the water a chance to soak into the soil. / Teresa Douglass

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To help keep a lawn green during a severe drought, landscapers have a few tricks up their sleeves.

First of all, forget about growing Fescue, a cool season grass that requires a lot of water during the hot summer months in the San Joaquin Valley, said Shea Gowin of Gowin Green Landscape Maintenance and Sprinkler Repair in Tulare.

“Fescue is very thirsty and not very water smart,” she said.

Bermuda on the other hand is drought tolerant. It’s deep rooting and hardy. Three weeks ago, Gowin Green replaced a front lawn on the corner of Inyo Avenue and O Street with a hybrid Bermuda sod overseeded with Ryegrass.

As the weather heats up, the Ryegrass will die and the Bermuda will be green.

To maximize watering, they installed Hunter MP rotator nozzles. Compared to constant spray sprinkler nozzles, these multi-trajectory rotating nozzles deliver less water over time, allowing for deeper penetration and less runoff over sidewalks and into gutters, she said.

Watering times

As water restrictions tighten up during California’s third year of drought, it’s helpful to know how much water can keep a lawn green according to landscape professionals.

After watering the freshly sodded yard mentioned above three times a day each day for two weeks, Bryce Gowin reduced the watering time to 10 minutes three days a week because the weather is still cool.

When temperatures start heating up, he’ll increase the watering time to 20 minutes three days per week. But once the lawn is established with a deep root system, this Bermuda lawn could be watered for as little as two 15-minute intervals one day a week during the summer, Shea Gowin said.

“Most people in Tulare and Visalia over water,” she said.

The city of Visalia recently upgraded water restrictions to one day a week in March and April, two days in May and three in June, July, August and September. Watering days get reduced again in October to two days a week, then one day a week in November and December and no watering in January and February.

During the one day a week watering restrictions, odd addresses water on Saturdays and even addresses on Sunday. During the two days a week watering restrictions, odd addresses water Tuesdays and Saturdays while even addresses water Wednesdays and Sundays.

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These changes take effect in mid-April.

In Tulare, watering times and dates have not changed yet but stiffer restrictions are in the works, said Dan Boggs, water utility manager.

Currently, Tulare residents can water their lawns three days a week but not between 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Odd numbered addresses can water Tuesday, Thursdays and Saturdays and even addresses can water Wednesday, Friday and Sundays. No watering is allowed on Mondays.

Small sponges

To help get the most out of your watering days, a water-saving product was created. AquaSmart, a polymer-coated sand product, soaks up water when the sprinklers are on and releases it slowly into the ground when the sprinklers are off, Shea Gowin said.

“It soaks up water like a little sponge and slowly lets it out,” she said.

Some of the testing for this new product was done at the Tulare Golf Course, said Earvin Hernandez of Ewing Irrigation in Tulare.

A 4-pound shaker of AquaSmart costs $12.45 at the store on South K Street and covers approximately 100 square feet or multiple plants. A 40-pound bag costs $62.45. This product can last three to five years, he said.

Simply apply it after aeration using a drop spreader or a regular seed spreader turned down low. Let the sprinklers run 20-25 minutes to charge the granules and after that go back to a normal watering schedule.

“It’s not guaranteed to look as good as a golf course but it will keep the lawn green,” he said.

Xeriscape

Another option is to remove your lawn and replace it with xeriscape, a landscape that reduces the need for supplemental water.

Joan Miller, 81, of Tulare learned about xeriscape more than 20 years ago while visiting friends in Arizona. After her husbamd passed away, she said she couldn’t mow the lawn herself and didn’t want to hire someone to do it. She called Shea Gowin a year ago and asked her to figure out what xeriscape could look like in her Tulare front yard. Instead of a lawn, Miller has many drought-tolerant plants and a few trees interspersed among bark. She said she watered twice a week through the winter and will try watering for 20 minutes one day a week through the summer.

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